This struck me in particular:
"Millions of Americans, especially the "netroots," those drawing their information and inspiration from the open sources of the internet, are finally connecting the dots between the burning issues, moving beyond limited concerns to radical awareness. A politicized new majority is waking up to the fact that the proverbial "end" is near. We must move beyond "business as usual" and tepid reform. We must link together our burning issues, unite our heretofore-fragmented forces and communities into a qualitatively more powerful current, and press and confront the Fortune 500 and the nation's thousands of elected public officials-before it's too late."
I have never been very political as I have been working to raise a family and hold things together. Now, though, I am participating more actively because I see disaster not far down the road if we don't rise up and change things. Want a for instance?
Back some while ago, I heard from a local legislator in response to a message I sent in regards to biofuels and alternative energy. After some thought, I responded with a plea for foresight and judgment in the use of ethanol and the need for an acknowledgment of issues far greater than just the economy of Iowa. In other words, please Ms. Legislator, think beyond the county lines and Des Moines because Iowa will stand or fall with the rest of the country and world.
Has she responded in kind? Has she responded at ALL??? No. Perhaps my words fell on deaf ears. Perhaps she didn't understand what I was saying. Perhaps she doesn't want to know and prefers her insular and insulated opinion.
I don't know but her lack of response is indicative to me of a very good possibility that she really doesn't understand.
We must move beyond that type of purblind, introspective, selfish view. We must. There is no longer room for selfishness and greed. As the writer of the article states neither major party offers hope. The Republicans are controlled by a small, select group of neo-conservatives, neopentes and dominionists. The Democrats as a whole are timid and scared of losing their majority in Congress so they huddle around their campfire and bar the doors. Reminds me of the dwarves in C.S. Lewis finale to the Narnia books, "The Last Battle."
This too strikes a chord:
"A potentially world-changing segment of the body politic is finally waking up to the fact that single-issue politics and limited-focus organizing cannot address the current Crisis. Facing a generalized breakdown of the political and economic System and a rapid degradation of global life-support systems, it is obviously insane to keep repeating, "My issue and my organization or my blog is more important than yours," or to wait for the Democratic Party and its latest middle of the road messiah, Barack Obama, to save us."
That may, in truth, be our only hope. Not a top-down change but change from down here upwards. How we proceed, how we build networks, understanding, will decide the destiny of our country. Nay, perhaps the destiny of the world.
Can we afford to ignore? Can we not heed the call? No.
So, from here to where? I don't know but I am looking forward to finding out.
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